Fence-post



(No Model.)

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\ post in front and crossing the rift A UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES E. HUNT, OF'OHIGAGO, ILLINOIS.

FENCE- PDST.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 359,257, dated March 15, 1887.

Application filed May 7, 1886. Serial No. 201,447. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMEs E. HUNT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fence-Posts, which are fully set forth in the following specification, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, forming part thereof, wherein- Figure 1 is a front elevation. Fig. 2 is a rear perspective. Fig. 3 is a vertical section from frontto rear; Fig. 4, a horizontal section through as :0, Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is arear elevation of a modified form; Fig. 6, a horizontal section through the same; Fig. 7, a vertical section of another modified form 5 and Fig. 8, a horizontal section through the same at y y, Fig. 7.

A is the post, made of metal, comprising the tubular base portion A and the upper portion, A, which is preferably in the form of a segment of a hollow cylinder, as if the cylinder A, forming the base, were continued to the top and then cut away at the rear above the diaphragm A, which constitutes a head for the tubular base and affords convenient place for applying force by blows of a sledge in driving the post into the soil or onto a stub post, as hereinafter explained.

The upper portion, A has the vertical rift A, and on the rear or inner surface there are formed the flanges A, to retain the wooden strip B, which extends along the rift on the back or inner side of the post.

0 G are the fence-wires, stretched past the D D D D are staples driven astride the wires 0, through the rift A and into the wooden strip B.

\Vhen this post is made of sheet metal or tubing,it may be made as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the two flanges A being made of the entire metal, which would otherwise complete the cylindrical form of the upper part, A, the same being folded inward and meeting or nearly meeting just behind the rift A also, when made of cast-iron, there may be but one flange, A, the same being protruded into the rear of the rift, as seen in Figs. 7 and 8, and there made to serve the purpose of an anvil, against which the strip B rests when the staples D are driven into it, and upon which said staples may have their ends clinched down. Instead of the rift A a separate hole, a ,may be provided for each staple, and in that case, instead of the continuous strip 13, separate blocks 1) may be used for each staple. This form, however, restricts the fence-wires to the positions at which the holes a" are made.

The advantage of metallic posts is, chiefly, that they are not liable to destruction by prairie-fires, and an advantage of the diaphragm A is that it prevents the growth of grass within the post, which would take fire and tend to burn the wooden strip 13, and a like advantage in the flange A, which shields the wooden strip on the back or inner side from the flame which might be driven against it by the wind.

These posts are designed to be set, if desi red, in places where wooden posts have already been burned down or otherwise destroyed, and there is an especial advantage in the base being hollow and open at the lower end, in that they are thus adapted to be driven around the stubs of the old wooden posts still remaining in the ground, and thereby gain the firmness of position afforded by the solidity of the wooden stub. To the same end, and for the further purpose of saving metal, and thereby not only cheapening the cost of manufacture, but also saving greatly in cost of transportation,they may be made with a very much shortened base, as illustrated in Fig. 5, and somewhat smaller than in case they are made to be set around old stubs, and with the lower end sharpened by beveling on the outside, as at the sharpened edge a, Fig. 5, and thereby be adapted to be driven onto and into the stubs, either shaving off the outer surface, if the stub post is but little larger than the tubular base A, or being driven into the end of the stub if the latter is much larger than the said base. In this case the length of the tubular base A need be only a few inches, and need be driven down only far enough to cover so much of the stub as projects above ground, or far enough to give the iron post a firm hold on the wooden stub.

I am aware that wooden posts have heretofore been provided with thin metal sheaths to protect them from fire, and such sheath has in some cases been apertured to admit the wirefastening staples. My invention is distinguished from those structures in that the post proper is metallic and the wooden piece has no function but to receive the staple, and is therefore of slender form, and may be a separate small block for each staple.

I do not claim, broadly, the use of a wooden core within a metallic casing to form a fencepost; but

I claim- 1. A metal post having-a base by which it is secured in the ground and an upper portion in the form of a semi-cylindrical segmeut,said upper portion being apertured to admit staples, in combination with a wooden block'or strip placed back of the staple-aperture to receive the staples, the upper portion of the post being interiorly flanged to retain such block or strip, substantially as set forth.

2. A metal post having a base by which it is secured in the ground and an upper portion in the general form of an open cylindrical seg- .upper part cut away at one side to give access to the upper surface of the diaphragm, the post being apertured and interiorly flanged, substantially as described,and for the purpose set forth.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, the 3d day of May, A. D. 1886.

JAMES E. HUNT. Attest:

J OHN B. KASPARI, WM. D. PORTER. 

